01 January 2012

Happy New Year

I'll just say Happy New Year — Bonne Année — and Best Wishes — Meilleurs Vœux — today. I'm in the middle of cooking up a big New Year's Day cassoulet. That's a SW France dish of white beans (cocos blancs) cooked with carrots, onions, garlic, and herbs, and then baked in the oven with with slow-cooked duck legs (confit de canard), duck fat (graisse de canard), Toulouse-style pork sausages (saucisses de Toulouse), and a brined hamhock (jambonneau demi-sel).

Since we don't have a big meal on New Year's Eve or even stay up until midnight to welcome in the new year, we can eat a big meal today.

While we had the fondue pot out for Christmas, we decided
to make a fondue bourguignonne — tender steak cooked
at the table in hot oil — this past week.

The weather here in Saint-Aignan is extraordinarily warm — this morning it's +12ºC — mid-50s Farenheit — and wet. We ended up getting at least 160 mm of rain — more than 6 inches, which is three times the normal — over the course of a very mild December 2011. The days have obviously been very gray and gloomy.

Happy 2012.
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13 comments:

  1. The Celiac Husband01 January, 2012 08:32

    Happy New Year from the Charente Maritime.

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  2. Cheryl01 January, 2012 09:09

    Happy New Year from Sunnyvale, CA, where we have just welcomed the new year. I made it until midnight! WooHoo! No black eyed peas on the the menu this year? The beef fondue has me drooling... what a great midnight feast that would be!

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  3. Tim01 January, 2012 09:27

    I've already said... Happy 2012!
    But you can't say it too many times... unless you run into February!
    Using the fondue for a meat dish is a lot better than cheese fondue... have you tried assorted meats on the plate of raw, all marinaded differently. You really need one of those multi-compartment dishes for 'nibbles' to keep the meats separate... especially if fowl is involved... and along with that... loads of frites and a green salad... very fresh bread, still warm preferably and beer, cider or wine.

    The WV is "tosiests"... so the tosiests greetings from Touraine du Sud.

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  4. Susan01 January, 2012 10:20

    I did cassoulet for Christmas, but with pork. It gives very satisfactory leftovers for several days. Meilleurs voeux!

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  5. Moving with Mitchell01 January, 2012 13:43

    Wishing you both lots of sunshine among the showers!

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  6. The beaver01 January, 2012 14:38

    Bonne Année Ken

    from Y and N

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  7. Unknown01 January, 2012 16:25

    Happy New Year from a wet and windy Brittany.

    I have really enjoyed following your blog the past year.

    Keep up the entertaining posts.

    Steve

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  8. Starman01 January, 2012 20:13

    Bonne Année! I love the Toulouse version of cassoulet.

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  9. Anonymous01 January, 2012 20:16

    Wishing you both a great year.

    Dennis

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  10. Amanda01 January, 2012 20:50

    (Tim always cracks me up with his "Word Verification" comments)
    Bonne année from a balmy 84 degrees F in Los Angeles!

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  11. Bob F01 January, 2012 21:26

    Ton cassoulet me fait lécher les babines.

    All the best for a healthy, happy New Year and perhaps to seeing you & Walt.

    Bob & Norma

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  12. Seine Judeet (Judith)01 January, 2012 22:39

    I had Toulouse Cassoulet with my au pair family and their friends in Toulouse on New Years Day back on January 1, 1982 :)

    Happy New Year! To all!

    Judy

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  13. Cheryl03 January, 2012 06:37

    Jan 02, 12 -- the beef fondue still looks fabulous. Good thing I don't have the makings for it on hand.

    ReplyDelete

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